Chichester Copywriter joins the Grantchester Group for tea

Chichester Copywriter travelled to Cambridge this weekend to visit family and while there paid homage to The Orchard Tea Garden at Grantchester where some of the literary greats, such as poet Rupert Brooke, frequented for tea and contemplation.

A present day stroll across the Grantchester Meadows in the late summer sun, watching punters negotiate with the winding river and beautiful red cattle grazing lazily, lead the way to the orchard known for its inspirations to writers and philosophers.

Brooke lodged at the Orchard after graduating from King’s College in 1909 and attracted many well known visitors who also craved a bit of quiet reflection beneath the trees in a country tea garden. This Grantchester Group consisted of: Russell and Wittgenstein (philosophers), Forster and Virginia Woolf (novelists), Keynes (an economist), and Augustus John (an artist).

While studying Communication at Bournemouth, Chichester Copywriter read and enjoyed Brooke’s work, particularly The Soldier, a poem written just months before his death in 1915. It was interesting to learn that Brooke died while serving at sea during the First World War and was buried on the Greek island of Skyros, making his posthumously famous poem’s lines ring truer than ever:

“If I should die, think only this of me:

That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England”

Chichester copywriter could feel the creative vibe flowing between the fruit trees while sipping her Earl Grey in the orchard where some of her literary heroes once sat. Writing ideas became as frequent as the ripened apples, pears, quinces and plums falling from the breeze bothered trees and it was clear why Brooke et al chose Grantchester.

In a letter from Brooke to his girlfriend, Noel Oliver, written in Orchard House, July 1909, the poet paints a picture of his life in Grantchester:

“I am in the Country, in Arcadia; a rustic. It is a village two miles from Cambridge, up the river. You know the place; it is near all picnicking grounds. And here I work at Shakespeare and see few people. In the intervals I wander about bare foot and almost naked, surveying Nature with a calm eye. I do not pretend to understand Nature, but I get on very well with her, in a neighbourly way. I go on with my books, and she goes on with her hens and storms and things, and we’re both very tolerant. I live on honey, eggs and milk, prepared for me by an old lady like an apple (especially in the face) and sit all day in a rose garden to work.”

It’s also believed that out of nostalgia when posted in Berlin during the war, Rupert Brooke wrote The Old Vicarage, Grantchester. This verse ends with one of poetry’s most famous lines: “Stands the Church clock at ten to three? And is there honey still for tea?” It also brings the experience of walking through Grantchester Meadows, including the sights and sounds of the surroundings, to life in a way that our favourite creative copywriter admires:

About me

Hello, my name is Katy Lassetter and I have more than 8 years experience as a copywriter. I dabbled with the pen from an early age but first seriously entertained the notion of professional copywriting while studying Communication at Bournemouth University...